HYDERABAD: In solidarity with the paddy farmers of Telangana, the TPCC took out a massive rally from the Public Garden to the Agriculture Commissionerate in Basheerbagh on Thursday. Party president A Revanth Reddy gave an ultimatum to the State government and warned that the Congress workers would lay siege to Pragathi Bhavan if the paddy procurement issue was not resolved by November 23. The party leaders will meet farmers at harvesting points across the State from Friday, he said.
While some Congress leaders were seen holding paddy crops, others were dressed as farmers at the rally, which was led by the senior leaders of the party, including former TPCC chiefs and legislators. Scores of workers participated in the rally amid heavy police bandobast. Later, they staged a sit-in protest in front of the Commissioner’s office, which was cordoned off.
Addressing supporters, Revanth demanded that the TRS government end the ‘political drama’ with the Centre and think about resolving the problem. “I hoped that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would announce his plan of action at the protest programme at Indira Park. But he failed to come up with a concrete solution that would reaffirm his commitment to the farmers,” he said.
The MP said that if BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy were serious about farmers’ issues, they should have taken the matter up with the Union government. “Both the BJP and the TRS are enacting a drama. Farmers, meanwhile, are losing their lives,” he alleged.
Ridiculing KCR’s meeting with the Governor after the protest at Indira Park, Revanth said, “The government is staging a protest and submitting a representation to the Governor, who is nothing more than a rubber stamp. With just days to go for the Parliament’s winter session, the Chief Minister does not have a plan of action.”
YSRTP reminds KCR of Sharmila’s ultimatum
After Congress issued the deadline of November 23 to the State government to fix the paddy problem, the YSRTP recalled that its chief YS Sharmila had previously issued an ultimatum to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao over the issue of procurement.